Pinch-hit single propels Elon past UNCG

Sunday

Mar 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 17, 2013 at 12:51 AM

Zachary Horner / Times-News correspondent

GREENSBORO — Elon University sophomore infielder Tyler McVicar made good on the first pitch he saw.

Pinch-hitting in the top of the eighth inning, McVicar’s two-out two-run double gave the Phoenix a lead it didn’t relinquish in winning its third game in a row, defeating the host UNC Greensboro 6-3 on Saturday afternoon.

With two players on after Antonio Alvarez had singled to start the inning and Joey Tomko was intentionally walked, McVicar pinch-hit for first baseman Danny Lynch with the score tied at 3-3.

“I’ve just been working with coaches on getting my head out more and he left one down and in and I just got a barrel on it,” he said.

The sophomore took the first pitch he saw from UNCG relief pitcher Corey Taylor hard down the third- field line, scoring both Alvarez and Tomko and giving Elon a 5-3 lead.

“He knocked that ball,” said Elon coach Mike Kennedy. “I don’t think the third baseman even saw it, he hit it so hard.”

The hit was part of four runs the Phoenix (10-8 overall, 4-4 Southern Conference) scored during a stretch of two innings.

Elon got on the board in the first inning as right fielder Alex Swim rapped a 1-2 pitch for a triple and Alvarez knocked him home on a groundout to the shortstop. The Spartans (8-9, 0-2) struck back in the bottom half as an infield single from UNCG left fielder Eric Kalbfleisch drove in Trevor Edwards.

In the second inning, Elon’s Wil Leathers scored on a Lynch flyball that UNCG center fielder Zach Leach dropped and the Phoenix took a 2-1 lead. A two-run single from UNCG’s Ray Crawford in the bottom of the frame put the Spartans ahead 3-2.

The score stayed that way until the top of the seventh inning as Elon’s Kyle Webb and UNCG’s Lee Gilliam battled one another.

“Really just trying to fill up the zone and throw strikes,” said Webb, who ended the day with eight strikeouts. “I never try to be like a power pitcher and strike people out, but try to keep the ball in the bottom of the zone and get ground balls.”

Gilliam was done when Elon left fielder Sebastian Gomez’s single knocked in Tomko in the top of the seventh to tie the score 3-3.

Webb (1-0) went seven innings, allowed two earned runs and two walks. Taylor took the loss in one inning of work. Elon’s Nate Young got his fifth save of the year as he allowed one hit and struck out two in the ninth inning.

The outcome is another momentum builder for the Phoenix.

“We’ve tried to get away from looking at three, four or two ahead, one ahead,” Kennedy said. “We’re just trying to play in the moment right now. The goal is just to focus on the next one. That’s kind of what we’ve done. We haven’t thought about three in a row. We need it for confidence, and I will say from that standpoint, it’s nice to get on a little bit of a streak.”

The victory sealed a series victory in Southern Conference play, something Elon had failed to do so far this season.

“Conference wins are what we try to get every week,” Webb said. “That’s the games we look forward to. We’ve got to keep it going. We can’t be comfortable with just two wins. We’ve got to get three.”

Elon will seek to do just that at 1 p.m. today.

“We want to win at least two games a weekend and if we get the sweep that would make up for some lost games earlier,” McVicar said. “We fell behind with the conference games earlier, we’ve just got to make up for them.”